# I Am an Idiot, or The Evil of Informercials. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567 "2005-10-30T05:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/21 "2005-10-31T05:01:44Z")
> [@myskepticsight](#): > > I want a Magic Bullet…and I don’t even have a kitchen (live in a dorm). > > It just looks so _easy_ to make pasta sauce, nachos, muffin mix, omelets, chicken salad, chocolate mousse, milkshakes, and FROZEN DRINKS right in the mug! > > It’s probably a piece of crap that doesn’t work, but it seems like it would be hard to fake it since they demonstate everything in its entirety…maybe I’m just gullible thinking a cooking apparatus from an infomercial would actually work like they say. I’m borrowing a friend’s Magic Bullet at the moment, and it’s actually decent. I’ve only used it for milkshakes and pureeing vegetables, but it’s done a good enough job. The times advertised on the infomercials are a bit low, and you may have to stop and manually stir a bit if the thing’s really full, but it’s otherwise quite usable. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/22 "2005-10-31T13:58:24Z")
I have a friend\* who got really drunk one night and ordered a set of those Girls Gone Wild videos. It was **months** before he finally got them to stop billing his credit card and sending him more. He’s actually kind of proud of his collection–most people don’t have such tangible proof of the sort of dumbassitude they can stoop while on a drunken bender. - It was a friend, really. It wasn’t me. Seriously. As for me, I really enjoy watching fitness equipment commercials. It really is all about the sizzle and how you sell something. It’s fun seeing how they take cheap-ass ineffective/suboptimal training techniques/equipment and make them look “energizing” and “fun”. All-time classic is The Gazelle–Fenris’s shrieking man-bitch sells the shoddiest cardio machine ever made, but people buy it because it looks like a swing set. Beautiful. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/23 "2005-10-31T14:14:10Z")
This post reminded me of a lot of the old Ronco commercials. So I went over to [www.ronco.com](http://www.ronco.com) and, I’ll be darned, they are STILL selling [GLH Formula #9](http://www.ronco.com/rco_prodinfo.aspx?pid=GL9007101001&color=&active=desc) with 8 different hair colors. Just what society needs to solve it’s baldness woes: A can of Ronco Spray-on Hair. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/24 "2005-10-31T16:47:34Z")
You know, I’d buy that '70’s music collection in a second if it was on DVD instead of just CD’s. I love watching those old, lip-synced performances…and the clothes that they wear, what a _time_-capsule! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/25 "2005-10-31T17:35:52Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > This post reminded me of a lot of the old Ronco commercials. So I went over to [www.ronco.com](http://www.ronco.com) and, I’ll be darned, they are STILL selling [GLH Formula #9](http://www.ronco.com/rco_prodinfo.aspx?pid=GL9007101001&color=&active=desc) with 8 different hair colors. > > Just what society needs to solve it’s baldness woes: A can of Ronco Spray-on Hair. :rolleyes: I bought a couple cans on clearance for a buck, to use on Halloween. It was so bad I couldn’t use it. The stuff was like the temper paint in first grade. Being it was water soluble, it was good for windows. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/26 "2005-10-31T23:46:17Z")
MY local mall used to have a store called “As Seen On TV” where they actually had all that infomercial stuff physically in the store. I used to like to look there, but never bought anything. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567/27 "2005-11-01T02:05:16Z")
Most any of that stuff can be bought in the stores if you just wait awhile. I have often been intrigued by the infomercial, then seeing the product on a shelf a few weeks later you can see just how chintzy it is compared to how nice it looked on TV. Our CVS has all the infomercial stuff. I have purchased a few things. Some I like (like the Hair Made stand I mentioned in my above post) and some were total crap (the Smart Spin is rickety and really more nuisance than conveinance) I always wait till it’s in stores, that way if I still want it I don’t have to pay shipping 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-idiot-or-the-evil-of-informercials/328567.md?page=1)